Roofers in Chilham
27.3 road miles from Margate. Chimney work, repairs and full re-roofs on Chilham houses, with pictures of the roof sent to you before any figure is quoted.
- Kent Downs settingInside the Kent Downs National Landscape.
- Conservation area nearbyConservation area within 0.75 km of the village centre.
- Ashford inspectsAshford Borough Council's own Building Control team.
Two Grade I entries, a scheduled keep and a landscape designation
Grade I pair
St Mary's church and Chilham Castle are both Grade I, so any roof near either is set against the list first.
Scheduled keep
Tower Keep Castle is a scheduled monument within about 500 m of the centre, and works to it need scheduled monument consent.
Downs label
The village point sits inside the Kent Downs National Landscape, an area designation that brings extra planning care to roof additions.
Chilham and the Ashford borough
What the list says about the roofs around Chilham
| Council | Ashford Borough Council |
|---|---|
| Building control | Ashford Borough Council's own Building Control team |
| Scaffold and skip licences | Kent County Council |
| Conservation area | Chilham |
| Population, 2021 | 1,774 (Chilham parish) |
| From Margate | 27.3 road miles, about 36 min |
| Listed entries within 500 m | 51, National Heritage List |
| Church of St Mary | Listed Grade I, 27 November 1957 |
| Chilham Castle | Grade I, first listed 13 October 1952 |
| Tower Keep Castle | Scheduled monument, entry 1011802 |
Chilham has a church and a castle that are both Grade I, plus 51 listed entries within 500 metres of its centre, so the list entry for your house comes before any ladder goes up or any price is written.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, Ashford Borough Council, Kent County Council, OSRM road routing.
Chilham, list and landscape
A Chilham roof job begins with the list entry, the landscape boundary and the council
Three chapters on the listed buildings, the Kent Downs designation, and the scaffold, skip and building control steps that come with a Chilham re-roof.
Chapter 01 of 03
Chilham Castle, St Mary's and 51 listed entries
Chilham is 27.3 road miles south-west of Margate, but on a roof there the distance matters less than the register. Historic England's National Heritage List shows 51 listed entries within 500 metres of the centre of the village, in a parish of 1,774 residents at the 2021 Census. Before anyone puts a ladder up, the first task is to find out which of those entries is your house, or the house next door, because the answer decides who has to be asked.
Three entries show how different the cases can be. The Church of St Mary was first listed Grade I on 27 November 1957, and Chilham Castle was first listed Grade I on 13 October 1952. Tower Keep Castle is a scheduled monument within about 500 m of the centre, and Chilham Castle Keep and Donkey Wheel is a third Grade I entry. Each sits under its own consent system. St Mary's still serves as an Anglican church, so the faculty system, not the council, decides on works to it. A listed house needs listed building consent under section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. A scheduled monument needs scheduled monument consent, because works to it are an offence unless authorised.
A listing protects the building as a whole, roof included. The covering, the ridge (the crest where two slopes join), the hips, the stacks, the pots and the lead flashings (lead dressed over the joint between a slope and a wall) all hold a listed house's character. Swapping any of them for something different, even over a small area, can call for consent however minor it looks from the ground.
The order of work at a Chilham address is therefore fixed. The entry for the house comes first, then the survey, with photos of the slopes, valleys and stack sent to you before a price exists. Where the entry applies, the repair is specified to match what is already there, and you are told which consent route it falls under. Our roof inspections are where that survey starts, and chimney repairs on a listed stack follow the same rule: match first, then consent, then work.
| Building | Status |
|---|---|
| Church of St Mary | Grade I, listed 27 November 1957 |
| Chilham Castle | Grade I, listed 13 October 1952 |
| Tower Keep Castle | Scheduled monument |
| Within 500 m of the centre | 51 listed entries |
Source: Historic England, National Heritage List for England
Chapter 02 of 03
The Kent Downs designation and the village boundary
Chilham's village point lies inside the Kent Downs National Landscape, formerly called the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. For roof work the label matters because an area of outstanding natural beauty is article 2(3) land, a short list of protected places that also takes in conservation areas. In those places some roof extensions, dormers among them, stop being automatic and need a planning application. The conditions themselves are set out in our roof window planning guide, the place to read them before choosing any new opening.
The Chilham conservation area is drawn by the council, and its boundary lies within about 0.75 km of Chilham's middle. Ashford Borough Council holds the map and the date it was drawn, so one enquiry against your address settles whether your roof is inside. A boundary is a line on a map and it can run between two neighbours, so the answer belongs to the address, not to the street name. Inside a conservation area, demolishing an unlisted building needs planning permission, and the designation brings extra attention to what a roof looks like from the road.
Myth
A conservation area means no re-roofing.FactThe designation changes which permissions apply to the work, not whether work can happen at all.
Myth
A landscape label is only about views.FactAn area of outstanding natural beauty is article 2(3) land in the General Permitted Development Order.
Myth
A church in use needs consent like a house.FactA church in Anglican use goes through the faculty system under the 2010 Order's exemption.
Source: GOV.UK, When is permission required; GPDO 2015 Sch 1 Pt 1; Ecclesiastical Exemption Order 2010
Article 4 is a separate layer. An Article 4 direction is how a council withdraws certain permitted development rights from a defined patch of ground, and Ashford publishes its directions on an interactive map. Before altering anything visible from the street, check whether an Article 4 direction applies with Ashford Borough Council. The answer takes one enquiry and can save a retrospective application later.
None of this stops a worn Chilham roof, whether on a cottage or a larger house, being repaired or renewed. It decides which route a repair takes and whether the new covering has to match the old, and it is far easier to learn that before a scaffold is booked than after it has gone up. Where a house is neither listed nor inside the boundary the job is simpler, though the Downs designation still bears on dormers. A re-roof is a chance to bring ridge, verge and flashing details up to standard without changing the character of the street, and lead roofing covers that detail: new lead dressed to match the old.
Chapter 03 of 03
Scaffold, skip and building control for a Chilham re-roof
Where a scaffold stands on the road or pavement, Kent County Council issues the licence under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980. It wants 5 working days' notice, and the scaffolding firm, not the homeowner, files the application. For 2026 to 2027 the charge is £52 per week, and an inspection, if Kent County Council wants one, is £78. Public liability insurance of £5 million is required of the scaffold applicant, and for a call before applying, Kent County Council highways are on 03000 41 81 81.
Skips take their own permit from Kent County Council at £45 per week for 2026 to 2027, again on 5 working days' notice, with 5 m by 2 m as the largest size allowed. The skip firm applies, as the scaffolder does. We tell you the day the scaffold goes up and where the skip will stand, so neighbours are not caught out.
Building Regulations are a separate question from planning. For a re-roof the Planning Portal sets two limits: less than 25 per cent of the building envelope affected, and less than 50 per cent of the roof affected. Inside both, no application is normally needed. A replacement covering that adds 15 per cent or more to the weight needs approval, as does any covering that would perform significantly differently in a fire. Ashford Borough Council's own Building Control team confirms the route for a Chilham address, and a registered building control approver is the private alternative.
Once the route is clear, a daily message tells you what was done and what comes next. Before the first day you also get the date the licence starts and the order the slopes will be done in, so the household knows when the front of the house will be under scaffold. A Chilham property may combine a listed house, matched detail for detail, with unlisted outbuildings treated normally, so the written plan separates the two. Waste leaves with us when the job ends, the scaffold comes down only when the licence period and the work agree, and if the survey turns up a change, such as rot under a lead valley, a photograph and a phone call come before any alteration to the plan.
From survey to clearing in Chilham
Entry and photos
The list entry comes first, then the survey and photos sent to you.
Boundary check
The conservation area map and any Article 4 direction are confirmed with Ashford Borough Council.
Licence and permit
The scaffolder applies to Kent County Council, and a skip gets its own permit.
Work, then clearing
A daily update, matching details on the listed parts, and the waste gone with us.
10-Year workmanship guarantee. In writing
Around Chilham
Where Chilham's paperwork stops and the next council's begins
Chilham answers to Ashford Borough Council for planning and building control, while other villages in our area fall to Canterbury, Dover or Swale, so the roof paperwork changes when the parish boundary does.
Questions to settle before a Chilham roof is priced
Does the Kent Downs designation change how a Chilham roof can be altered?
It can. The Kent Downs National Landscape rests on an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designation, which counts as article 2(3) land, so some additions to a roof need an application that would not be needed elsewhere. Re-covering a house is a different question, and our planning guide sets out where the conditions begin before any price is written.
Who decides listed building consent for a Chilham house?
Ashford Borough Council decides. Section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 makes consent a legal requirement where works alter a listed building's character, and a roof is part of the building. Your entry on the National Heritage List shows what is protected, and it is the first thing we look at before the survey becomes a price.
What changes for a Chilham house near St Mary's church?
Nothing from the church itself. Your house's own listing, the conservation area and the Kent Downs designation are what count. The church holds Anglican services, so the faculty system governs works to it. Tower Keep Castle is a scheduled monument with its own consent. Neighbouring houses follow their own entries, so each address is taken on its own merits, whatever the church's status.
Does re-roofing a Chilham house need Building Regulations approval?
It depends on how much is changed. The Planning Portal's test is less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof, and switching to a covering at least 15 per cent heavier brings approval into play whatever the share. Ashford Borough Council's own Building Control team confirms the route for your address.
Who files the scaffold licence application for a Chilham roof?
The scaffolding firm files it with Kent County Council, the highway authority, which wants 5 working days' notice. The 2026 to 2027 charge is £52 per week, and a skip on the highway needs its own permit at £45 per week. Public liability insurance of £5 million is also required of the scaffold applicant.
Your Chilham roof, read first
Send the roof's photo and the house name; the listing is looked at first, and one written total follows the survey.